Dryer Sheet Hell

Just today, I received a link to a great article published in a Virginia newspaper that deftly uses humor to poke fun at the ubiquity of dryer sheets and other fragranced products that continue to poison and fumigate our world.

For those of us with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS), getting hit with a blast of dryer sheet fumes is exactly what can throw a chemical wrench into our day, delivering a hefty dose of heated, aerosolized formaldehyde and acetone as we attempt to live our lives.

In a recent post, I reported how we had sent a letter to our neighbors requesting that they consider eschewing dryer sheets due to their deleterious effect on our health. It's apparent that at least several of our neighbors have not heeded our request, and we are still being assaulted with toxic fumes as we walk back and forth to our driveway, spend time in our yard, or try to simply enjoy our screened-in porch on a beautiful day.

Liza Field, the author of the aforementioned article, rightly condemns the use of product names like "Mountain Breeze" and "Country Fresh" as nothing more than propaganda. This brash form of false advertisement serves as subterfuge that confuses consumers, convincing them to purchase toxic and unhealthy sludge that bears no resemblance to the mountains and meadows so deftly used to evoke an experience that these products can never deliver.

Back here at home, we are frequently chased indoors by wafts of dryer sheet toxins as they float through our yard, causing us headaches, irritability and a host of other symptoms. Yesterday, while sitting in our front yard on a beautiful day, a nearby neighbor began to use a gas-powered leaf-blower to maniacally clear every last leaf from his lawn and driveway. As his leaf-blower went into overdrive, an enormous cloud of gas fumes began making its way into our yard, mixing with the dryer sheet fumes into a miasma of unhealthy air enveloping our home.

Needless to say, we retreated indoors, closed the windows, and lamented the fact that we live in such close proximity to others. We realized yet again that, with our condition and the current state of the chemically drunken world, we have no choice but to eventually live miles from the nearest neighbor, isolating ourselves from people who choose to poison the air---and their bodies---with toxic poisons delivered by a chemical industry that cares little for the health of the consumers whose hard-earned money lines their cynical pockets.